Specialty cocktails and food items will celebrate and support pollinators during Bee City USA’s annual week of festivities.
Father’s Day River Cleanup rewards community service with chocolate and beer
On Sunday, June 19, MountainTrue, French Broad Chocolates and Asheville Greenworks will host a Father’s Day River Cleanup that combines paddling and trash gathering with chocolate and beer.
Body and soul: 12 Baskets Cafe offers free meals and fellowship to all
In a town where tourists come for the food, people who live on the margins of society often feel unwelcome in restaurants, even if they have the money to pay for a meal. But at 12 Baskets Café, they are welcome and valued.
Asheville VeganFest 2016 expands to two-day event
This year’s VeganFest will offer two days of education, fun and plant-based food in support of the Brother Wolf Animal Sanctuary.
Toxic legacy: CTS site breeds heartache for residents
With the EPA set to implement a new remediation strategy at the CTS of Asheville Superfund site this year, some residents and public officials are cautiously hopeful that the long-standing issues might finally be addressed. Others continue to lobby federal authorities to hold the EPA accountable for past missteps and speed up the remediation process.
Rainbow Community School aims to reinvent learning
What would you do if you were given the chance to reimagine the American high school — and perhaps have your vision made real? The folks at West Asheville’s Rainbow Community School are enthusiastically tackling that ambitious challenge. Last September, West Willmore, Rainbow’s curriculum director, learned through social media about XQ: The Super School Project, […]
Down on the corner: Asheville buskers, businesses chime in on sharing public space
The city is seeking definition in its relationship with the busking community, and both buskers and businesses are speaking out about the issues that matter to them in hopes of fostering a healthy relationship in an area of the city where space is at a premium.
INTERVIEW: Gov. McCrory offers his views, amid protests at the Western Residence
Spring is a beautiful time to visit the Governor’s Western Residence on Town Mountain. Governors and their spouses have traditionally opened the residence to the public twice a year — once in the spring when the rhododendrons are in full bloom, and once during the winter holidays. Last December’s gathering saw record attendance, according to a tour guide […]
Ashevillage’s Community Resilience Challenge tests residents’ skills, resources
“Be prepared” goes the Scouting movement’s mantra. And being able to face any challenge is often a goal of institutions. But the question is always: How? How can we be best prepared for whatever may come? The Boy Scout carries his pocketknife. Emergency services train for possible scenarios. Young people study to pass the big […]
Healthcare agencies, local officials celebrate opening of C3356 Comprehensive Care Center
More than two years in the making, partner agencies celebrated the C3356 Comprehensive Care Center’s official opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the evening of April 21.
State NAACP president Barber speaks at Hill Street Baptist
The so-called Bathroom Bill is no more about bathrooms than the so-called Voter ID bill was about identification, the Rev. Dr. William Barber II told a gathering of about 150 people at Hill Street Baptist Church on Tuesday, April 26. “Read the rest of it,” Barber said. The new law, HB2, takes away the rights […]
Making local tourism sustainable
What does a catchphrase like “sustainable tourism” mean here in Western North Carolina? How do you make it work at the ground level? Local businesses, organizations and public officials weigh in on what such a model might look like in the region.
200 attend meeting to learn more about HB2, how to fight it
What Emily Dawson wants in life is a workplace where she doesn’t feel threatened. At least that would be a good start. Instead, she feels more threatened since the passage of House Bill 2, which she says relegates her to a restroom full of men, who likely will be hostile at the thought of seeing […]
Brother Wolf launches vegan advocacy arm
As a vegan organization, Brother Wolf Animal Rescue is unique in its field.
George Masa and the birth of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
“These efforts really are about protecting places for all Americans and for future generations,” notes Brent Martin of The Wilderness Society. The leaders of the national parks movement, he maintains, “all saw a much bigger picture, not only for all human beings, but for all living things.”
WNC Rail Corridor Committee hatches new strategy
For more than 20 years, the WNC Rail Corridor Committee has worked tirelessly to prove the economic viability of restoring the historic rail link between Salisbury and Asheville. With changes in the rail industry looming and younger travelers showing increased interest in train travel, the committee is partnering with towns and municipalities and freight rail companies to pursue a new, three-pronged strategy.
Conscious party: UNCA student aids survivors of sexual violence
Asheville resident Nikki Madle is collecting toothbrushes, toothpaste, new underwear, used or new sweatshirts and sweatpants, chapsticks, and travel-sized shampoos and conditioners for sexual violence victims at the hospital. Her drive runs through Friday, April 15.
Chemtronics: From chemical weapons to conservation easement
Decades after the furor over a Swannanoa weapons plant introduced many residents to the term “Superfund site,” the focus is shifting toward potential future uses for a portion of the Chemtronics property.
Trade and Lore Coffee is set to open on Wall Street
A new downtown coffee shop aims to create a hub for community building and social justice in the wake of Waking Life.
Volunteering: From lending a hand to challenging the system
Everybody needs to be needed. We want to be of use to our friends, family, community and the world at large, to have a purpose and to know that we’re making a positive impact. What that impact should look like, however, can vary widely: For one person, it may be stuffing thank-you letters into envelopes; […]
WNC restaurants participate in Asheville Humane Society’s Dine to Be Kind fundraiser
Now in its 13th year, the Asheville Humane Society’s Dine To Be Kind fundraiser offers a daylong opportunity on Tuesday, March 8, to dine out in support of animals in need.